


Nothing But Trouble

by charlesdk



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Erica Reyes & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Evil Kate Argent, Kate Thinks She's Tough Shit But Is Really Weak Shit, M/M, Minor Allison Argent/Lydia Martin, Minor Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura, Minor Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Multilingual Derek, Past Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Prince Derek, Smuggler Stiles, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 02:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7995106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlesdk/pseuds/charlesdk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles and Scott, smugglers, come across an abandoned ship in the middle of nowhere. While looting the ship for goods and valuables, they find an unconscious crew member, who turns out to be a prince. With bounty hunters on their asses, they fly across the galaxy in search for the prince's lost family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing But Trouble

A fake blaster, the color faded and parts of it rusty. A toy x-wing, miniature to fit in a child's hand and cockpit slightly broken. A figurine of a character from a cartoon holodrama series.

“Were there kids on this ship?” Stiles asked in a murmur, his question directed at no one in particular. The part of the ship he was currently in was empty aside from himself. With his brows furrowed and his hand wrapped around the toy x-wing, he leaned back out of the box he had pulled out from under the shelves, the box that was full of what looked to be a kid's toys.

Him and his partner Scott had found the ship they were in floating around in the middle of nowhere, far out in the sector's outer rim and far from any of the nearby planets. Stiles had been halfway to the cannon, when Scott had stopped him, because while the ship looked (and probably was) expensive and highly weaponized from afar, it looked damaged and completely abandoned up close.

Which, as they found out after they had docket and went in with their blasters up and loaded, was exactly what it was.

Abandoned. Empty. Not a single sign of life.

Stiles ran his thumb over a crack on the side of the miniature x-wing in his hand, his heart sinking at the thought of what might have happened to the people who used to be on this ship. But with a shake of his head, he pushed that thought out of his head, put the x-wing back in its box, and stood up to continue looking for what they had docked for.

Parts. Valuables. Weapons. Anything they could get credits for, really.

Because that was what the two of them did; looted ships that had been abandoned, looted empty huts or houses on whatever planet they were on at the time, stole from people they came across (the ship they traveled in was a stolen one, even), smuggled, anything but flesh trade and murder, because they had to draw the line somewhere, and the line just happened to be there.

Stiles' eyes wandered over the damaged walls – scorch marks from blasters' lasers and dents from hard objects – and landed on a holopad on top of a table. A long and white bench stretched out along the wall behind the table, looking comfortable and, just like everything else on board this ship, expensive. Curiosity wakened, he walked over and swiped across it, wakening it.

There wasn't a lot on it. Just a few holodramas, an archive of holojournals dating back several standard weeks, and a few other things Stiles didn't find worth his attention or time.

He didn't even get a good look through it anyway, because then Scott called for him from further into the ship.

“Stiles!” Scott's voice echoed in the otherwise empty ship, making it that much easier to hear him, even over the quiet and odd hum of the broken engine. “Stiles, get over here!”

“Coming!” Stiles called back, and he grabbed the holopad before he went in the direction of his partner's voice. Even if there was nothing that interested him on it, like information on the previous owners of the ship, it didn't mean the pad itself was useless. They could still sell it, trade it.

Whatever small thing they could get their hands on, they took. That was how it worked.

He navigated through the ship quickly, going in the direction of where Scott's voice had come from. It took him a few minutes to find him, only because he had gotten distracted by a part of the ship sticking out of a wall. A Part they could definitely sell for a lot of credits, that's for sure. So of course he had to stop to yank it out.

When he found Scott, he found him leaning into a supply closet, his slightly hunched over body covering up whatever it was he had found. It was a tight fit in there so whatever it was, it couldn't be all that big.

“What've you got?” Stiles asked, bending down to put the holopad and ship part on the floor to free his hands, in case Scott needed help.

“Crew member,” Scott answered, still leaned into the closet.

“What?” Stiles' brows drew together, and he quickly stepped forward. “I thought this place was abandoned. Wait.” He immediately haltered, making a slight face. “Are we talking _dead_ crew member here?”

“No, he's alive.” Scott leaned out of the closet and stepped back, turning to look at Stiles. “Passed out in an envirosuit.”

Now that Scott had stepped back, Stiles could finally look into the closet. And sure enough, there was a man unconscious in an envirosuit, legs drawn up but body otherwise limp.

Unconscious or not though, Stiles noticed that he was handsome. And he couldn't deny it.

Stiles' eyes wandered from the stranger's face down the envirosuit. Even _that_ looked expensive, top quality and high tech. How rich were these people?

“He got any valuables in there?” he found himself asking in a lowered voice, and he stepped closer to take a peek into the rest of the closet.

“Stiles!” Scott looked at him, mouth open and eyes slightly wide in what could be shock or surprise. Or both.

“What?” Stiles shrugged, looking back at his partner. “Not like he's gonna be using any of them.”

“He's not dead!”

He waved a hand at him, rolling his eyes. “Close enough. The envirosuit'll only keep him alive for so long, Scott.” He stepped closer, a foot into the closet, and leaned inside to look.

Nothing.

When he stepped back out and turned to Scott, he saw a thoughtful look on his face. The look that told him he was considering something. Something that Stiles would most likely not like, if he looked back at past experiences. “Oh no, I know that look.”

“We have to take him with us,” Scott said, eyes meeting Stiles'.

Stiles returned the pleading look with a deadpan one. “Are you kidding me? We can't just bring him with us! Why would we even do that?!”

“'Cause dude, that's fucked up!” Scott waved a hand in the direction of the unconscious stranger in the closet. “What if that was me?”

“Then that would be different, because I actually know you, Scott!”

Scott took in a deep breath and stood up straighter, steeling himself. The expression on his face was determined, which meant he had made up his mind and wasn't going to back down. “I'm not leaving here without him, Stiles.”

Stiles blinked and gawked at his partner for several seconds, waiting for him to break but nothing came. “Unbelievable,” he sighed and shook his head. “Damn it, Scott, fine!” He threw up his hands. “We're bringing him with us, I guess.”

Scott beamed at him. Stiles scowled.

**[ x ]**

The guy was heavier than they had thought, as it turned out.

“Slow down, I'm losing my grip on his legs!”

“You try lifting his body, dude, he's kriffing heavy!”

But eventually – and with only one break to catch their breaths – they managed to get the guy into their own ship, carefully laid down on Stiles' bunk and with the envirosuit still keeping him breathing and healthy.

While Scott decided to stay behind and try to get the envirosuit open without damaging anything, Stiles went back into the abandoned ship to finish their looting. He did it quickly though, grabbing what he could, because even though he had protested at first, he couldn't deny that he was curious.

Very curious.

Why was that guy the only one left on the entire ship? Why was the ship damaged in the first place? Were they ambushed and if so, by who?

Questions like that and many more went through his head as he walked back to their own ship, dragging a tarp full of stuff along with him. Although it could probably take a while before he got any answers at all, because Scott was still fiddling around, carefully, with the envirosuit when he got back.

“Anything yet?” he asked, glancing over at Scott while dragging the lootings over to the box they kept everything else in. It was full to the brim at this point, not counting the bigger parts they had collected, which meant a ton of credits. If they were lucky and selling to the right people, that was.

“I can open it up,” Scott said, standing up from the bunk, “but I think we should get moving first. Ship that expensive looking, someone's gotta come looking for it. I don't wanna be here when they do.”

“Good point.” Stiles turned back around and headed for the entrance door, pushing the button to close it. “I'll go find a place we can land,” he continued and headed for the cockpit.

He returned to the bunks after punching in a location – a planet that was peaceful and the home of a few of their allies – and punching into hyperdrive just for a bit to put some distance between them and the abandoned ship. He let the ship fly on autopilot for a while, while they figured out who the stranger on board of their ship was.

And whether he was friendly or not.

“Ready?” Scott asked, fingers hovering over a button on the suit.

“Go for it,” Stiles answered with a nod, his hand clutched around his blaster. Just in case.

Scott pressed the button after another moment of hesitating and when the suit's helmet flew open, he almost flew up from the bunk like the suit was going to explode, his hand going straight to the blaster holstered by his hip.

Nothing happened. The guy didn't move, didn't wake up.

The two of them shared a look of confusion.

Slowly and carefully, Stiles stepped over and lightly patted the guy's cheek, stubble rough against his fingers. “Hey,” he called out, continuously patting – which was really more of a slap than a pat – his cheek.”Hey, sleeping beauty, wake up.”

“Sleeping beauty? Really?”

Stiles shrugged. “What? It's kinda fitting.”

Scott raised a brow at him, an amused grin tugging at his lips. “Sure it is.”

“It's better than calling him Envirosuit Guy in my he-”

He was cut off when there was a groan from beside them, and both of them, wide eyed, whipped around to see Envirosuit Guy finally starting to wake up.

Envirosuit Guy blinked his eyes open slowly – bright colored, maybe green – and his brows drew together in confusion. He shifted slightly and moved to sit up a little. About halfway up, he seemed to realize where he was.

Or wasn't.

And immediately he shot up in a sitting position, his eyes wide open now and panic clear in them.

“Hey, hey!” Scott called, going for calm but not sounding very calm. “You're okay, you're safe.”

Envirosuit Guy looked at them warily, slowly inching further away from them but not moving off the bunk. “Who are you?” he asked, voice gruff but softer than Stiles had imagined it would be. His eyes wandered from them, taking in his surroundings, and he continued before either of them could answer his first question. “Where am I? Where's my family?”

“Stiles, put down your blaster,” Scott muttered, and Stiles, not even realizing he had raised his hand and pointed his blaster at the stranger, slowly lowered it and put his blaster in its holster on his belt.

“I'm Scott,” Scott continued, words now directed at Envirosuit Guy who was still watching them warily. “That's Stiles,” he gestured back at Stiles, and Stiles offered a quick (but lame) wave when Guy shot him a glance. “You're on our ship and you're safe. Your ship was damaged and you were the only one there,” the guy's face fell, his shoulders slumping, “so we brought you along. Couldn't just leave you there.”

Envirosuit Guy fell quiet for a moment, and then he quickly stood up, walking straight passed Scott and Stiles. “I have to go back.”

“Woah, hey!” Stiles quickly stepped in front of him, a hand on his chest even though the guy was glaring daggers at him. But his other hand was already back on his blaster and the guy had nothing but his envirosuit. “You're not going anywhere. Unless you wanna get dropped off in the middle of space and suffocate. You've got your suit, sure, but you're gonna be stuck there. In the middle of nowhere.”

The glare still directed at Stiles, Envirosuit Guy grabbed his wrist and forcibly removed his hand from his chest. “I need to go back to my ship. My family might still be there, and I'm not just going to leave them behind!”

“Dude, the ship was empty!” Stiles yanked his wrist free, returning the glare, annoyed. “I checked every corner of it, I should know! There was no one but you there!”

“Then I have to go back and look for them!” Envirosuit Guy moved to continue walking, but Stiles was in front of him to cut him off immediately, earning him an even stronger glare. “Let me go.”

Stiles opened his mouth, but Scott cut him off. “Okay,” he said, walking over to push the two apart. He send Envirosuit Guy a kind but tight smile, while the one he send Stiles was warning. “How about we sit down and talk about this, yeah? Your ship was damaged and pretty much dead. You're not going anywhere in that.”

Envirosuit Guy looked between them, silent for a moment, then he sighed heavily and turned back to go sit on the bunk again. Leaning forward slightly, he rested his elbows on his knees and gathered his hands together, his eyes on the floor. “My name is Derek Hale, and my-”

“Wait, hold up,” Stiles interrupted with a humorless chuckle. “Hale as in... the royal family Hale, that Hale?”

Envirosuit Guy- _Derek_ lifted his gaze from the floor to Stiles and nodded. “Yeah. That Hale.”

“Oh kriffing maker.” Stiles reached out and grabbed Scott's arm, pulling him a few feet away from Derek and turning him around to have their backs to him. “That's Derek _Hale_!” he said to Scott in a hushed whisper. “You remember them, right? The grand house of Hale from Corellia? They're crazy rich and powerful, and they've been targeted for centuries. Apparently, they've been moving around for standard months, on the run from some crazy hunter.”

“What are you saying?” Scott whispered back, shooting Derek a glance before looking back at Stiles. “That people will come after him?”

“Yeah!” Stiles threw his arms out, his eyes wide. “And I'm not risking my life for some prince, Scott!”

“You know I can still hear you, right?” Stiles looked over his shoulder, over at Derek who was watching them with an unamused look on his face. “I'm sitting right here.”

Stiles turned to him, bringing his arms up to cross them over his chest. “Your ship was ambushed, right?” he asked, and Derek nodded, a sad look on his face that Stiles chose to ignore. “And since no one else was left on the ship, I'm guessing that means your family was kidnapped by ambushers. Now, I can put two and two together and figure out that this means there'll be a kriffing reward over your head. A big one! Which means bounty hunters, which means even more trouble that I am not willing to go through for some prince I don't even know!”

He paused to take in a deep breath, huffing. “So we're gonna drop you off on the next planet.” He turned to Scott before continuing. “And then we're gonna go to Lydia and give her the parts she needs. Like we promised we would do.”

The silence that followed was cut short by Derek standing up and giving Stiles a tight smile. “Whatever happened to “you're not going anywhere”?”

Clenching his jaw, Stiles stepped closer to him. “That was before I knew who you are!”

“I didn't ask to be taken with you!” Derek reminded him, raising his voice right back and leaning toward him just slightly.

“Oh, shut i-”

“Stop it!” Scott interrupted the two of them, putting a hand on both their shoulder to push them apart. “Stiles, you're gonna go fly the ship. Derek, you're gonna get out of that envirosuit and into some clean clothes if you need it. We're gonna go to Lydia's for food, and we'll figure out what to do after. So stop fighting.”

Stiles and Derek glared at each other, Stiles pouting only slightly and Derek imagining ripping his throat out, probably. Stiles then huffed and rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said with a shake of his head. “But he's not gonna wear any of my clothes. Don't need any of it stretched out, thanks.”

“I don't want to wear any of your clothes anyway!” Derek called after him.

Stiles raised his hand to throw him a crude gesture, and then walked off to the cockpit, grumbling to himself.

**[ x ]**

Scott and Derek's conversation further into the ship was a mutter in the distance, one that Stiles only bothered trying to listen to for a minute, before he gave up and focused on flying instead. They were getting closer to their destination now.

The planet Takodana, where Lydia would be waiting for them.

Stiles shot the radar a quick glance, double and triple checking that nothing and no one were coming for them, before he leaned back in the pilot seat with a heavy sigh, his eyes sliding closed. He could feel a headache coming, a dull pain in the back of his head, and he knew he needed some rest. And soon, before the headache turned into the feeling of his head exploding.

“- and we sort of got into a fight, but we won that too.”

Scott's voice, now closer and getting nearer, brought Stiles back out of his half asleep state, and he opened his eyes and turned to look at where Scott and Derek came into view.

Derek. Wearing one of _his_ shirt.

“Scott!” he whined loudly, throwing a hand out in the direction of the two of them. “Did I not tell you _not_ to give him any of my clothes? He's gonna stretch it out and it'll be ruined! Forever!”

He didn't mention, didn't even let the thought process in his head, how good Derek looked in his shirt. It stretched pretty tight over his chest, the shirt at least a size or two or three too small. At least the pants were looser, but they still hugged his thighs damn near perfectly.

Stiles was pretty sure this guy could make anything look good though.

Damn royals and their good looks.

Scott rolled his eyes and walked into the cockpit, leaving Derek to stand in the entrance way, his arms going up to cross over his chest. Which really one made his biceps bulge, and Stiles had to look away.

“He wasn't going to fit in any of my clothes,” Scott said with a shrug and sat down in the co-pilot seat.

“And you think he's fitting in _that?_ ” Stiles waved a hand in Derek's direction, looking at Scott instead of over there.”C'mon, Scott, that shirt looks like it's gonna rip open any second, and I actually like that shirt!”

“Would you rather I wear no shirt at all?” Derek asked, quirking a brow at him.

“Yes,” Stiles very nearly blurted, but he managed to bite his tongue before the word slipped out of his mouth. Instead, he huffed and made a face at Derek, and then turned around to look out through the viewport to the planet they were nearing. “Shut up and sit your royal ass down, we're almost there.”

They landed by the Martin landing strip, a good walk away from Maz's castle, and Stiles spotted Lydia coming out from her house in the middle of the trees as he shut off the engine. He smiled when he saw her through the viewport, and he raised a hand in a silent greeting while he got up from his seat.

When he turned, he turned to give Derek a look, a raised finger at him. “You do not get to be an asshole to her, or her girlfriend will literally kick the crap out of you and she and I will both let her. I don't care that you're a prince, and neither do they.”

Derek rolled his eyes, shook his head, and followed him and Scott out of the ship.

“Lydiaaaa!” Stiles spread his arms out wide the moment he was out of the ship and on forest ground, his smile wide and his feet moving in the direction of the approaching red head.

Lydia send him a smile and went over to embrace him in a hug. “Good to see you in one piece,” she said into his shoulder, giving him another squeeze before letting him go and moving over to give Scott a hug as well. “And you too, Scott.”

They parted, and she looked at the two with a smile on her lips. Until her eyes landed on Derek standing further back, a jacket ( _Stiles'_ ) thrown on and face guarded. “And who's this?” she asked, looking from Derek to Stiles, a brow quirked and head tilted questioningly.

“Uh, that's Derek Hale,” Stiles told her.

Huffing, Lydia gave him a slightly annoyed look. “I told you to bring me parts, not a prince.”

“The prince isn't for you, but I've got your parts!” Stiles turned to Scott. “Bring them out, will ya?”

“What am I, your servant?” But Scott didn't hesitate to move back toward the ship despite his comment.

Stiles did move over to help bring the box of parts into Lydia's house though, Derek trailing after them uncertain and quietly, awkwardly. He was still walking tall and confidently, which Stiles guessed was because he was a prince and was used to being in uncomfortable situations.

Probably not exactly like this one, but similar. In some ways.

Lydia's house was as clean and cozy as it always had been. It wasn't all that big, but it had enough room to fit her, Allison, and a few overnight guests if they needed the room. And if they needed anything, they always had Maz just a few minutes' walk away, and Maz was always happy to help in any way.

Well, when it came to Lydia and Allison, at least. Stiles had gotten a smack over the back of his head the last time he had asked Maz for a favor.

She had still helped him, but ow.

“Ally!” Lydia called out after stepping into the house, holding the door open for Stiles and Scott as they carried the box inside. “You can put it over there,” she told them and motioned toward the large table in the left corner of the first room. She then turned her head and called out again; “Parts are here!”

The box was put down with a heavy sound, and Stiles sighed heavily as he threw himself onto the seating spot behind the table, throwing his head back for a moment. Only for a moment, because then he opened them and looked over at Derek.

Derek who was still standing in the doorway, hands in the pockets of his jacket and looking awkward as all hell.

He almost looked like a little kid, standing like that. His brows were drawn together slightly and his eyes were glued to the floor below his feet, the corners of his lips pulled down just a bit in a near frown. Not only did he look awkward, he looked sad too.

Stiles didn't really blame him. His ship was ambushed and his family had been taken from him.

That didn't mean he was willing to risk his life for the guy, though. No way. He just wasn't a complete asshole, that was all.

Stiles was still looking at Derek, when Derek lifted his gaze and their eyes met. Stiles didn't break the contact at first. Not until Allison came out from the back, her arms lifted as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.

Her welcoming and warm smile quickly dropped from her lips when her eyes landed on the stranger in the doorway, her face guarded in a split second. “Who's this?”

“Derek Hale,” Lydia answered and rolled her eyes, walking over toward her. “Apparently they're picking up strays now too.” She kissed her girlfriend's cheek quickly, before both of them turned to Scott and Stiles.

The silence stretched out, the four of them just looking at each other. “What?” Scott finally asked, breaking the silence.

“This is where you explain why you picked up a prince,” Allison said, gesturing toward Derek.

“We didn't pick him up, exactly,” Stiles started, sitting up straighter and shooting Derek a quick glance. “We found his ship, it was damaged, he was unconscious and the only one there, and you know Scott. He wasn't just gonna- Wait a second.

Stiles cut himself off and stood up, his eyes catching what was on Allison's finger. “Is that a promise ring?”

Allison blinked, lifted her hand, and smiled down at what was definitely a promise ring. Stone and everything. “Yeah, it is.”

“You got married and didn't invite us?” Scott jumped in, an expression of happiness mixed with betrayal on his face. Stiles was pretty sure he was wearing the same exact expression.

“We didn't invite anyone,” Lydia said with a short shrug. Like that made it better. “It was a small ceremony, only Maz and whoever was at her place at the time. But please. Do continue with your story of how you took in a Hale royalty.”

Stiles sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It was dirty, he realized. Using a 'fresher would do good. That and some sleep. And food, his empty stomach reminded him of. “Scott decided it was a good idea to bring him along, 'cause morals and all that.”

“He was going to die if we didn't bring him with us,” Scott said, mostly to Stiles. “You wouldn't have felt good about leaving him behind either.”

“You should have.”

They all turned to look at Derek. Derek who looked from Scott to each of them. He still looked awkward but more determined now. “You should've left me there. I would have been fine, and I could go find my family, instead of being trapped here with you two.”

“And what were you planning on flying in, huh?” Stiles turned fully toward him, his brows climbing up his forehead. “'Cause I already told you, your ship wasn't going to fly anywhere. You would've died if Scott hadn't insisted on bringing your royal ass along, so show some kriffing gratitude!”

“I would have been fine!” Derek said – or rather, _yelled_ back and took a step forward, brows furrowing. “I would've figured something out, so I could get my family back!”

“Tone it down, you two,” Allison cut in, coming to stand between them. She gave Stiles a warning look, before she turned to give a similar look to Derek, although with less intensity. “We can get you a ship if you need it, but it won't come free.”

“Whatever you want,” was Derek's quick response.

“Good.” Allison nodded at him and sighed. “But first, I think we could all use some food.” She paused, then shrugged. “And some booze.”

**[ x ]**

Stiles hadn't eaten in what felt like forever – only an energy snack to keep himself going in the past several hours – so yes, he was swallowing down the food Maz had gotten for them (after yelling at both of them in her mother tongue, neither of them able to understand her) but he didn't care.

He didn't even care when he lifted his gaze and met Derek's, because Derek was sitting right next to him, watching him in what was either amusement or disgust. Or both.

“What?” Stiles managed to get out around his mouthful of food, a bit of it falling from his mouth.

“Charming,” Derek muttered, giving him a tight smile.

“Thanks,” Stiles shot back and swallowed, reaching out to grab his cup of booze in front of him to take a quick swig. “At least I'm eating like a normal person, unlike you who just pick at it.”

“It's called table manners,” Derek retorted, the tight smile in place as he picked up a piece of food to take a bite.

“No one uses manners in this place, Derek. Look around.” Stiles threw a hand out, gesturing to the people in Maz's castle, the people that were all drunk and having loud conversations. “No one cares if you eat like a pig.”

There was a loud snorting sound from the table closest to them, and both Stiles and Derek turned to look at the big outlander who had made the sound. Scott, Allison, and Lydia just sighed and continued to eat in silence, none of them wanting to be involved in whatever trouble was happening on the other side of the table.

The outlander spat out something in a language Stiles didn't understand. But apparently Derek did, because Derek snorted and hid a laugh behind his hand, which had Stiles turning to give him both an offended and confused look.

Derek chuckled and tried to hide it with a cough, but Stiles caught it anyway. “They just called you disgusting,” Derek explained once he finally removed his hand from his mouth, an amused grin on his lips now.

Stiles scoffed, offended and made sure the outlander knew by the hand gesture he send their way. Leaning slightly over toward the outlander, Derek opened his mouth and said something in the same language, the language that Stiles didn't understand, and Stiles gaped at him.

Because... what?

Whatever Derek had said though, a smug grin on his lips, startled a booming laugh out of the outlander, and they slapped a large hand on Derek's shoulder, said something back, and then turned to their own table, still laughing quietly.

Stiles waited exactly one second, before he had to ask. “Okay, what did you say to them?”

“Wouldn't you like to know?” Derek grinned at him and shoveled down some food.

Stiles really wanted to punch his stupid face.

He didn't get to though, because then Allison sat up straighter, her comlink in hand. “Guys, we've got a problem. Well, you,” she waved a hand in Derek' direction, eyes still on her comlink, “have a problem.”

She handed him the comlink, and Derek took it with a concerned frown on his face. Stiles only caught the word _Wanted_ , but he didn't need more than that. He knew what it was, what it meant, and he shared a worried look with Allison and the rest of them.

Derek looked at the comlink for a while, his jaw clenching, and he swallowed thickly before finally looking up. Looking right up at Allison. “Why do you have this?”

“My family,” Allison started with a sigh. “They're bounty hunters.” Immediately, Derek tensed and Allison was quick to continue. “I'm not. I left that life behind years ago. That's not the point though.”

“Point is,” Stiles continued for her, making Derek look at him, “they know you're here and we need to leave. Now.”

Scott was already out of his seat, eyes scanning the place for any bounty hunters making their move. Lydia caught his eye and told him “I'll talk to Maz, have her help,” to which he nodded a silent thank you.

They managed to leave Maz's place with no commotion (not that Maz would let anything happen anyway) and the moment they were out of the big doors, Stiles instinctively reached out to grab Derek's wrist and dragged him along, as they went into a sprint toward the ship waiting for them.

Their ship was in sight – a minute's run away, at most – when the first laser shot past them.

It hit nothing but the grassy ground a foot ahead and to the left of them, fortunately.

With his one hand still wrapped now tightly around Derek's wrist, Stiles whirled around and lifted his own blaster in the direction the laser had come from. A bounty hunter stood not far from them, having trouble with his blaster and cursing loudly to himself in another language. Stiles spotted at least one other in the distance, coming toward them.

 _Shit_.

“Scott!” he called out, not taking his eyes off the hunter. He didn't put his blaster away either, but he did let go of Derek's wrist. “Take Derek and go get ready to get the hell out of here!”

Derek said something, but Stiles wasn't really listening. It was something like “I'm not a kid, I don't need to be treated like one,” but Stiles was too busy firing his blaster at the bounty hunter to care. He only just missed him and cursed loudly when all it did was scare the guy.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scott and Derek disappear into the ship and only a few moments later – and two shots from the bounty hunter, one from Stiles – he heard the engine start. Which would be his cue to get out of there.

“Close it!” he yelled, firing off another shot from his blaster – this time hitting the guy's shin, and he grinned when he heard the loud groan that caused – and headed toward the now closing entrance. He jumped inside after shooting a warning shot toward the other bounty hunter finally arriving, and the entrance closed only a second after.

Blaster back in its holster in his belt, Stiles ran to the cockpit. He only gave Derek strapped into the co-pilot seat a quick glance, before he ushered Scott out of the pilot seat. “Cannons, Scott, now!”

“You know how to fly, your highness?” Stiles asked as he flipped a few switches, getting the ship ready to take off.

“I'm from Corellia,” Derek responded, sounding surprisingly calm for the situation they were in. “Of course I know how to fly.”

“Good, 'cause we don't have time for a flying lesson right now.”

They made it out of Takodana's atmosphere without any of the bounty hunters following them, but their luck didn't last long.

“Blast!” Stiles cursed and quickly grabbed the headseat to communicate with Scott down at the cannon. “Scott, you got two ships coming right at us.”

“ _I see them_.”

Scott didn't hit the ships properly, but the lasers shooting were enough to scare one of them off, and Stiles steered the ship into another path in hopes of shaking off the other one.

They would have to outrun it, if Scott couldn't shoot it down.

Stiles veered the ship out of the bounty hunter's shooting range, while Scott continued to shoot at it, hitting it every once in a while but no critical damage, for several minutes, before Stiles grabbed the handle to hyperdrive.

“Last shot, Scott,” he called out, “I'm going into hyperdrive!”

Scott shot one last time – critical damage – and then Stiles punched into hyperdrive, sending them flying away. Stiles leaned back on the seat with a heavy sigh, his eyes closing.

They made it.

**[ x ]**

The engine was humming quietly, making soft noises in the background. Noises that Stiles was used to, since he practically lived on this ship. He was more on it than he was on a planet surface. It was relaxing, comforting.

His eyes were closed, his body comfortable where it lay in his bunk, and he was so close to finally falling asleep and getting the rest he so desperately needed.

Except he couldn't sleep.

With a quiet and tired sigh, Stiles turned his head and opened his eyes to look over to the other side of the room, over to the other bunk. Scott usually used that one, but he was flying the ship at the moment, letting Derek use it for some much needed rest.

Derek was on his side, facing the wall and his back turned to Stiles. He was so quiet, that for a moment Stiles was sure he was asleep. But something told him he wasn't.

“You okay?” Stiles found himself asking, his voice soft and lowered to a near whisper.

There was no response for so long, that Stiles started to think maybe Derek had fallen asleep after all. But then there was a heavy sigh, and Derek rolled over to lie on his back, eyes on the ceiling above them.

The room was darkened, but Stiles could still see the sorrowful expression on Derek's face, the way his brows were furrowed, and the way the corners of his lips were slightly turned down.

“My ship was ambushed,” Derek started, his voice low and rough. “My family was kidnapped. I've got no way of getting home and even if I did, I can't be the only royal left. I have a bounty over my head, apparently, and bounty hunters hunting me, so what do you think?” He turned his head, finding Stiles' eyes in the dark. “Do you really think I'm okay?”

Stiles suppressed a sigh and pushed the exhaustion to the side for the time being. Instead, he moved to sit up. “No, I don't think you're okay,” he said, lifting his legs so he sat with them crossed. “I think a lot happened very quickly, and you haven't had time to really process it. It's overwhelming, I get it.” He paused for a moment, considering his next words carefully.

And when he continued, he did so after sighing softly. “You're not alone though. Scott and I are gonna help you. We have been helping you, actually, so you should probably say thank you.”

Derek huffed and sat up, a little smile tugging at his lips. “And here I thought you didn't like me. Whatever happened to not risking your life for some prince you don't know?”

“I may have,” Stiles shrugged, rolling his eyes, “changed my mind a little bit. Whatever, are you gonna thank me or not?”

Derek let out a low chuckle. “Thank you.”

Stiles nodded at him, and they fell into a silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, wasn't awkward. It was just nice, and Stiles found himself unable to take his eyes off of Derek for the duration of the silence. The silence that Derek broke.

“You're a good pilot, by the way,” he said, his voice still in a whisper, now soft.

Stiles scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I'm okay.”

“I come from a planet of ace pilots, I know good when I see it. You're a bit clumsy, but you're good.”

It was in that moment that Stiles silently thanked the good maker for the darkness in the room, because he knew he was blushing, could feel his face grow hot. Damn it. He was not supposed to develop a crush on a prince of all people, and yet there he was.

“Well, thanks.” Clearing his throat, he pushed himself up and off of the bunk. “I'm gonna... I'm gonna go check on Scott. Should probably let Lydia and Allison know we're okay too.”

He stood there awkwardly for a moment, holding the eye contact with Derek. Only for a moment though.

“Okay, you get some sleep.” And then he turned to leave.

**[ x ]**

“I have to find my family,” Derek said, accepting the plate of food Scott handed to him. Lydia had managed to pack a bit of food in the ship, before they had gone to Maz's back on Takodana. “I don't expect you to help me in any way, but I have to do it. You can drop me off on a nearby planet, I'll get a ship myself.”

Stiles kept his eyes on Derek for a moment, his own plate of food forgotten in his lap. When the moment passed, his eyes wandered to the right and landed on Scott, who was sitting in front of him. Their eyes met and they had a silent conversation. The kind of conversation you could have when you've known someone long enough, not a word spoken.

It was a short one too, because, as it turned out, they were on the same page.

“We know someone,” Stiles said, eyes back on Derek. “Someone who owes us a favor and can get you a ship. A good one.”

“And,” Scott prompted, eyes still on Stiles.

Stiles shot him a quick glance, sighed, and looked back at Derek. “ _And_ ,” he continued, pretending the smile that formed on his lips was forced, “we'll help you find your family and get them back.”

Derek lifted his gaze from the ground and found Stiles' eyes. His brows were furrowed and confusion clouded his face. “Why?” he asked a moment later.

“Because,” Stiles said, looking right back at him and ignoring the staring from Scott, “it's the right thing to do.”

The crease between Derek's brows slowly flattened, and confusion was replaced with something else. Something that Stiles wasn't quite sure what was, and he didn't give himself the time to figure it out either, because he tore his eyes off of Derek a second later and focused on the food in his lap.

It _was_ the right thing to do, he was sure of it. Not for just any potential currency they could be rewarded with.

Stiles found himself not caring about that.

**[ x ]**

“This isn't going to work,” Derek said, worried but showing it as annoyed, for what must have been the fifth time. His hands reached up to bring the hood of his robe up over his head and his brows furrowed further.

“Not with that attitude, no.” Stiles sighed as he strapped his blaster to his utility belt and let his own robe fall over it to hide it. Looking at Derek, he continued. “Will you just trust me this once? I know what I'm doing.”

The concern and worry didn't leave Derek's face, and he sighed before taking a step forward and toward Stiles, his hand moving to gesture out the viewport of the ship. “There are thousands of people out there,” he pointed out. “If even one of them recognizes me and tells someone, this whole thing falls apart.”

They had landed on Dantooine not long ago. Erica and Boyd's place was a long walk away, but they couldn't take their ship there, so they had to go by foot. And this was the only way to do it. Through the mass of people out there. People who could recognize Derek and rat him out to any bounty hunter nearby.

Scott had gone ahead several minutes ago, a comlink in hand in case he came across trouble along the way. So far, there had been nothing, and Stiles doubted there would be.

Well, he _hoped_ there would still be nothing when he and Derek stepped out of the ship.

“No one's going to recognize you,” Stiles said, his voice raised just slightly, and he reached up to tug the hood further down over Derek's head. “Just keep your head down, pretend everything's completely normal, and don't leave my side. It'll be fine, I promise.”

Derek didn't look convinced, not in the slightest, but he sighed and nodded. “Okay. Let's just get it over with.”

“That's the spirit.” Stiles smiled widely and held out his hand for Derek, his left hand since his right needed to be free in case any shooting needed to be done. Derek's hand slipped into his own, Stiles did not think about the way it felt, and they headed out of the ship and onto the busy planet ground.

There were almost too many people, which was a good thing, as Stiles kept telling himself over and over again. More people meant less likely for someone to catch them. But it also meant that he had to keep a tight grip on Derek's hand so he wouldn't lose him in the sea of people. Which, with his recent discovery of a growing crush, was making it hard to concentrate.

They had been walking for only a few minutes, when Stiles dared glancing back at Derek. And immediately did a double take, groaning quietly.

“Stop walking like a prince,” he said in a whisper, leaning closer to him. “Walk like a normal person.”

“I _am_ walking like a normal person,” Derek bit back, sending him a quick glare before returning his attention ahead of them, as they continued to shoulder their way through the crowd.

“You're really not.” Stiles slowed down just a little, just so he could walk next to Derek instead of slightly ahead of him. “Slouch a little. Stop being so tense. You're not a prince here, remember?”

There was a heavy and annoyed sigh to his left, and Stiles nearly rolled his eyes because _of course_ Derek Hale wasn't going to listen to him. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Derek rolling his shoulders and then slouch. Just slightly but noticeable less tense now.

“Much better,” he commented, throwing Derek a quick smile, before he walked faster, dragging Derek along with him.

They managed to make it through the tight crowd without being spotted (he hoped) and once they made it to the clearing leading directly to Erica and Boyd's place, their pace picked up and they were halfway to running the last while.

It was only when they were out of sight from people further in town, that Stiles decided they could stop running. They could stop holding hands too, now that there wasn't a crowd they could lose each other in, but Stiles didn't let go. Because he didn't want to, and Derek didn't let go either, so he didn't bring it up.

When they neared the familiar hangar – Erica and Boyd's place was an old hangar, that they had turned into a garage for speeders and other ground vehicles, their living quarters in the back along with other (stolen) ships – Stiles immediately spotted Boyd waiting for them and lifted a hand in greeting.

“Boyd, my man!” Stiles called out with a wide smile on his face and hesitantly, he let go of Derek's hand to bump his fist to Boyd's held out one. “Good to see you.”

“You too.” Boyd offered him a quick smile, Derek a short glance, and then his attention returned to Stiles. “Scott's in there with Erica,” he said, gesturing to the open hangar. “Trying to see if anyone's heard anything about the Hales.”

“Thanks.” Stiles nodded at him. “I owe you one, seriously.”

Boyd shook his head. “Just paying back a favor.” His eyes moved back to Derek, and he suddenly stood up straighter. “I've got a ship for you. Looks like garbage, but she's fast and everything works.”

Derek offered him a quick nod. “Thank you. I'll pay you back for it as soon as I find my family.”

“I don't care about your money,” Boyd said with a short shake of his head. “Just bring back the ship when you've got your family, and we're good.”

An unreadable expression went over Derek's face, and if it weren't for approaching footsteps echoing from the hangar, Stiles would probably have asked about it. Or let himself look longer so he could figure it out himself.

But no, someone was approaching. Someone being Erica and Scott, still talking quietly to each other.

Stiles immediately smiled widely at the sight of Erica, and when her attention shifted from Scott to him, a similar smile formed on her lips. She made a sound that was close to a happy squeal, and then she sprinted the rest of the way and into Stiles' spread out arms, hugging him tightly.

“Blast, I've missed you,” she said into his shoulder, her grip tightening around him.

“I've missed you too,” Stiles muttered back, letting her cling onto him. Because he had. He had missed her a ridiculous amount. “It's been way too long.”

“That's because you don't visit enough.” Erica finally loosened her grip a bit, just enough to lean back and get his face in her hands. “At least you still look as stupid as ever.”

Stiles snorted loudly. “And you're still as pretty as ever.”

“Alright, you two,” Boyd cut in, moving an arm between them to pull them apart. “We've got work to do, in case you forgot.”

Erica rolled her eyes, but she stepped back anyway. “Calm down, you have nothing to be jealous of, you know that.” It was then that she seemed to notice Derek, and her teasing grin immediately turned into a soft smile. “Derek Hale, I assume?”

With everyone's eyes suddenly on him, Derek swallowed lightly, went back to his prince stance, and nodded. “Yes, ma'am. Thank you for your help.”

Erica rolled her eyes again and snorted loudly, while Stiles held in his own snort. “Do not call me ma'am, you're older than me.” She paused for a moment, her eyes narrow and on Derek. Her head tilted slightly to the right, and she looked thoughtful as she continued. “Have we met before?”

Derek's impressive brows furrowed, his eyes flickering to Stiles for a short second, like he would know the answer to that, and he shook his head. “I don't think so, no. If we have, I don't remember.”

Erica hummed softly, then shrugged. “You're royal and have met thousands of people. I doubt you would've remembered me anyway.” Taking in a deep breath, she put on a smile again. “You wanna see your ship?”

**[ x ]**

“When you said it looks like garbage,” Derek started, warily eyeing the ship in front of him, “I didn't think you meant _literal_ garbage.”

Because the ship parked in front of him? That certainly looked like something straight out of a junkyard. Something that had been blow to pieces and put together with engine tape. It did not, in any way, shape or form, look like something that could possibly still work, let alone fire anything.

Maybe that was exaggerated, but still. Garbage.

“Hey,” Boyd huffed, offended, and help up his hands. “Just 'cause it's not your fancy, royal ships, doesn't mean it doesn't work.”

Arms crossed, Derek turned his attention to the man standing next to him and raised a brow. “Does the shield work?”

“And the hyperdrive and the cannons and the steering,” Boyd listed, meeting Derek's doubtful look with a stern one. “Not my first time fixing a ship, your highness. I know what I'm doing.”

Giving a short nod, Derek turned back to the ship. “I'll take your word for it.”

A silence fell between them. A comfortable one that was interrupted by Stiles sticking his head out of the living quarter between the hangar and the secret ship storage. “Food's ready, boys!” he called, a wide grin on his lips, his hair tussled, and a smudge of something on his cheek.

Derek wanted to wipe it off.

Pushing that thought out of his head – which, after meeting Stiles, wasn't the first time he had to do that – he followed Boyd back inside. He paused shortly in the doorway to give the garbage ship a quick glance, then he huffed quietly to himself, shook his head, and went inside, letting the door fall shut behind him.

Unlike at Maz's place back on Takodana, Derek let his table manners slip just a bit. Maybe because he was so hungry, maybe because the food was that good, or maybe because Stiles gave him a look. Like he dared him to eat like the rest of them; barely any manners at all and practically swallowing the food instead of enjoying every bite of it.

Whatever the reason, Derek ate as messily as he could allow himself to and it was nice.

Especially when Stiles laughed, his laugh bright and made Derek's heart stutter, and slapped his shoulder, like Derek eating messily was the funniest thing that could have happened to him. And Derek found himself smiling softly, only to force it away when he noticed the knowing looks on the others' faces.

They had been eating for a while, when suddenly Erica dropped what she had in her hands and sat up straight, pointing at Derek with her eyes wide on him.

“You're him!” she yelled and a smile broke on her face. “You're the kid!”

Confused, Derek let his brows furrow. “What kid?”

“The kid who helped me find my parents,” she continued, her smile growing wider. When Derek's confusion only grew, she kept talking. “My parents traveled a lot, took me with them. They were scavengers too. Not that me and Boyd are only that,” she was quick to add. “But one time we went to Corellia, and I got lost because there was a parade or whatever.”

“Celebration for my sister's birth,” Derek muttered quietly, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I remember that.”

There had been almost too many people that day, celebrating the birth of a new princess loudly and happily. Cora, his sister, had wailed at all the noise and the many people for a long time, but she had fallen quiet and asleep when Talia, his mother, took her in her arms and sang softly to her.

Derek had quickly gotten bored though, he remembered, so he had gone into the crowd of people in the search for something more exciting than celebrating his sister. Which was when he had found a little, blonde girl crying out for her mom.

“You found me crying for my parents and helped me look for them.” Erica's smile was softer now. “Even though it was your sister's naming day.”

Derek shrugged and lowered his gaze to the table, missing the way Stiles looked at him.

“I know my parents probably thanked you,” Erica said, causing him to look back up at her, “but thanks. That was really nice of you.” She paused for a moment, then nodded with determination and stood up. “I'm gonna start asking around for information on your family. Right now.”

“Erica,” Boyd cut in, giving her a look. “Finish your food first.”

Erica stood still for a moment, contemplating. She then huffed and moved away from the table for a brief moment. “I can multitask,” she said and grabbed a holopad from a nearby shelf.

She didn't participate in the rest of the dinner conversation, but she did finish her food, her eyes and one hand never leaving the holopad.

**[ x ]**

Derek felt useless.

He had felt useless since he woke up on Stiles and Scott's ship, his family kidnapped and taken away from him. He hadn't been able to help in any way, and it was frustrating. Not even now was he able to help, because he couldn't afford going outside and ask around with everyone else. Someone might recognize him, rat him out, and it just wasn't worth it.

So while the others asked around, contacted fellow smugglers and outlaws and various other acquaintances, Derek was stood in Erica and Boyd's hangar, fiddling with the tools and pacing back and forth.

He felt utterly and completely useless, and he hated it. With a burning passion.

His family was out there somewhere, scared and hurt. Not dead, no. He knew they weren't dead, could feel it deep inside. But they were scared, he knew that, and he could do nothing but sit around and hope someone somewhere would have information that could help them.

It was on his hundredth pace to the other side of the hangar, outside dark and quiet, that Boyd came rushing back into the hangar.

Derek stopped pacing immediately and quickly turned to follow him toward the living quarters, where Erica and Stiles were still reaching out to people across the galaxy. “What is it? Did you find something?”

Boyd didn't answer him, only waved a hand at him and gave him a short nod as he jogged the rest of the way. It was when he opened the door between the hangar and the living space, that Derek got his answer. “Kira's on her way. Should be here by first light.”

“She's got something?” Stiles looked up from his holopad, eyes blinking a few times. He was tired, drained, as were the rest of them. A part of Derek wanted to tell them to get some rest, another part of him wanted to tell them to keep working.

Because he wanted his family back so badly. He just felt bad that these people – these people he didn't even really know and who didn't really know him – were pushing themselves so much.

Boyd nodded, moving over to stand behind Erica and giving her shoulders a gentle rub. “Yeah, Danny got her a name of whoever wanted the Hales.” He shot Derek a quick look, then motioned his head toward him, eyes back on the others. “And who put a bounty on him.”

Derek let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, and Stiles nodded. “Okay, good. Great.”

Stiles ran a hand through his already messy hair, scratching the back of his head shortly. “I think we should all get some sleep. It's gonna be a long few days after this.”

**[ x ]**

When morning arrived, Derek was the first out in the open as a ship (an a-wing, dirty and in need of a touch up) came to a land and park behind the hangar.

While the others had been snoring away and catching up on lost hours of sleep, Derek hadn't been able to shut his eyes for more than a few minutes, before he had to get back up and start pacing.

Stiles had tried, several times, to get him to lay down at least try to sleep. “You won't be any good sleep deprived,” he'd said, his words murmured and his eyes still closed.

Derek hadn't listened. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to seep, it was that he hadn't been able to. Every time he closed his eyes or sat still for too long, his brain would start throwing these horrible images of what might have happened or was currently happening to his family, and he couldn't take it. He couldn't take not knowing where they were, who took them, or _anything_.

So he had had a sleepless night, but he didn't feel tired, so he figured it was fine.

He could sleep when his family was home and safe.

The ship's engine turned off and the cockpit popped open to reveal a woman inside, her head protected by a helmet but her face already breaking into a friendly smile when her eyes landed on Derek. Despite the two of them being total strangers.

She was climbing out of the cockpit and onto a wing, when the others joined Derek outside. Erica looked the most awake, Boyd still looked like he was sleeping but with his eyes open, Scott stood frozen, his eyes wide and mouth open, and Stiles...

Well, Derek let his eyes linger on Stiles for just a few seconds too long.

Stiles' hair was somehow even more of a mess than just a few hours ago. He was still rubbing sleep out of his eye, yawning silently, and his shirt was sliding to the right, revealing just a bit of collarbone. Just enough for Derek's urges to go over and kiss him to return for a moment.

He didn't though. He couldn't.

“Kira!” Erica's greeting got Derek out of his staring state and back to reality. He turned to see Erica walking toward the woman – Kira – now on solid ground instead of on top of her ship, helmet now off. Her long, black hair was put into a braid that hang over her shoulder, the braid messy and bits of hair falling out of it.

“Thank you for coming,” Erica continued and brought an arm around Kira, guiding her toward the rest of them. “We're in a little bit of a rush, so let's get inside before we start.”

As the two of them passed them to get inside, Derek saw Kira's eyes wander over each of them, and she send them greeting smiles. He watched as she paused on Scott though, and he watched as her cheeks got a pink color suddenly, her smile shy.

Erica and Kira disappeared inside, and Derek moved to follow.

But not before catching Stiles snorting and telling Scott “Someone's got a cruuush!” in a teasing sing-song voice, to which Scott hissed at him to shut up.

Boyd was the last one to go inside, and he shut and locked the door behind him, while the others gathered around the table in the kitchen area. “Danny said you got a name?” he prompted, questioningly, and sat down next to Erica, casually swinging an arm across her shoulders.

Kira nodded, and Derek found himself leaning forward just a little. “Yeah, he asked around the bounty hunter community,” she started, waved a hand. “The Hales,” she very quickly glanced Derek's way but looked away just as quick, “have been wanted by several people for a long time, so it took a while to figure it out.”

“But he did?” Stiles asked, resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward curiously.

Kira nodded. “Yeah. The one most likely is Kate Argent.”

She kept talking. Derek stopped listening. His heart dropped, and he suddenly wanted to run out of there and throw up, panic rising in his chest.

Of course.

Of _course_ it was Kate. How could he not have known?

“-kay, Derek?”

Stiles' concerned voice brought him back out of his panicking thoughts, and Derek lifted his gaze from the wooden table to Stiles. He sat there silently for a moment, before he nodded tightly and pushed his chair back.

“I need some air,” he stated in a murmur and bolted outside before anyone could stop him.

**[ x ]**

Stiles stared at the closed door, that Derek had bolted out of just a second ago. He was confused and concerned, worried, because Derek had suddenly gone white as a sheet at the mention of this Kate person. He had tensed and spaced out, chest rising and falling faster than before.

Stiles could spot someone panicking a mile away, and Derek had definitely been panicking. A lot.

“Kira,” he said, turning back to her. Everyone else were sharing confused looks, but Kira just looked... sad. A little bit guilty too. “Who's Kate Argent?”

Taking her eyes off of the door, Kira looked at him and sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I probably shouldn't have brought her up like that,” she murmured, mostly to herself, and scratched the side of her neck. When she spoke again, her face held the sad look. “Kate is his ex.”

“His what?” Stiles' jaw fell, and he gaped, more surprised than shocked.

“She was only with him for his money and a way onto royal grounds,” Kira said with a wave of her hand. “She wants to rid the galaxy of royals, or something like that. Plus, he was young and she was older. It was pretty gross of her. Anyway, his mom found out why she was with him and banished her from royal ground. Apparently she went crazy and tried to burn the whole palace down.”

“Maker,” Scott breathed to Stiles' right and yeah. That was intense.

Kira send Scott a quick look, and she continued with her eyes on the table. “Talia, Derek's mom and the queen, made her a galactic criminal and banished her from Corellia. She's been wanting the Hales dead for years and have promised a big reward to those who can catch them and bring them to her, so the best bet is her.”

A silence followed Kira's tale, a silence that didn't even last that long but it felt like it did.

Stiles didn't stick around to find out what else Kira knew, because he was out of his seat and out the door without a second thought.

He found Derek sitting by the garbage ship, head in his hands and shoulders up to his ears. He walked over carefully, making sure to make his presence known so he wouldn't spook Derek. He sat down, close enough to be comfortable and comforting but not close enough for any part of them to be touching.

He didn't know if Derek would be okay with that, after all.

“You okay?” Stiles asked in a lowered and soft voice, breaking the silence between them.

Derek didn't answer right away. But when he did, he dropped his hands into his lap and looked straight ahead. He looked exhausted. “I didn't think I'd ever have to deal with her again,” he admitted in a small, almost hoarse voice.

Stiles didn't say anything. He didn't get the chance to either, because then Derek sighed and continued, eyes on the ground by his feet now. “Sorry you got dragged into all of this,” he said in the same small voice. “You don't have to help anymore, you've done more than enough. I've got a name and a ship, so I'll be fine.”

Stiles scoffed and shifted closer to him, their knees touching now. “If you think I'm just gonna leave you to fight that asshole and her people alone, you obviously don't know me well enough.”

“That's the whole point!” Derek suddenly turned to him, eyes wide and voice raised. “You don't know me at all, so why are you even helping me?”

“Because!” Stiles started, voice same level as Derek's. But he stopped when he realized he didn't really know. Well, he _knew_ but he couldn't say it. He sighed and continued. “Because I want to, okay? So just let me help.”

Derek's eyes narrowed at him. “Is it because of money?” Stiles groaned and rolled his eyes, but Derek kept talking. “I'll pay you, I promise, but is it really worth risking-”

“Derek, stop!” Stiles interrupted and raised a hand to carefully lay it on Derek's shoulder. Their eyes met, and Stiles' heart pounded in his chest. They were closer than he had thought. “I'm not in it for the money. I don't even care about that anymore.”

Derek looked at him, his eyes flickering over Stiles' face, and Stiles saw the moment those brightly colored eyes lowered to his lips. He couldn't help but do so himself, letting his eyes wander to the prince's lips. Their eyes moved back to meet at the same time, and Stiles couldn't hear anything but the sound of his heartbeat in his ears.

He didn't move, didn't breathe, but his lips parted slightly when he saw Derek lean forward just a bit, eyes downward again. They were so close, that Stiles could feel Derek's breath ghosting over his lips, and-

“I hate to interrupt-” They practically jumped apart at the sound of Scott's voice, and Stiles turned to send him a glare. Scott just grinned, a knowing glint in his eyes. “- but we've got a lead.”

**[ x ]**

The second they were inside and Kira told them everything about the lead – a location, a planet in the outer rim – Derek insisted they left immediately. Stiles tried to convince him to stay for just a few hours, to sleep and gather strength, but Derek wasn't listening. He was already on the way back outside of the hangar.

“I was thinking,” Scott said, coming up to jog alongside Stiles who was walking fast after Derek, the rest of them following shortly behind, “maybe I should take the garbage ship.”

“Why do you guys keep calling it a garbage ship?” Boyd asked from behind them, no one replied. Erica only snickered and put a hand on his arm to let him know she'd heard him.

Stiles gave Scott a side glance and made a face, his eyes back on Derek quickly. “ And why would you do that?”

“So you and Derek can get some alone time,” Scott said, that irritating and knowing grin back on his lips.

Stiles smacked his arm. “Shut up, we don't need it.”

“Yes, you do.” Scott nodded once and patted his shoulder. “You're taking Derek with you, I'm taking the garbage ship. End of discussion.” Not letting Stiles reply, he turned to look over his shoulder, put on a wide smile, and slowed down until he was walking next to Kira. “Hey, you're coming with, right?”

Stiles rolled his eyes and didn't stick around for the rest of that conversation. Instead, he picked up his speed and ran to Derek, catching up to him. “Derek, wait up!”

Derek only slowed down for a moment to glance over his shoulder, but it was for long enough for Stiles to catch up.

“So,” Stiles started once he had made it up next to him, taking a second to match his walking speed. Which was more like a rushed jog. “Looks like you're flying with me.”

Derek send him a look, brows furrowed. “Why? I've got my own ship.”

Letting out a puff of air, Stiles rolled his eyes. “I know! But Scott insisted on taking it, so,” he turned his head and gave Derek a wide grin, “hope you're ready to be my co-pilot.”

They parted ways once their feet hit planet ground instead of hangar ground. Stiles saluted Scott, Scott saluted back, and then Stiles and Derek pulled the hoods of their robes up over their heads, as they headed toward the potentially busy city.

And maybe Stiles reached out for Derek's hand long before they made it to the crowd, and maybe Derek met his hand halfway, but no one but them needed to know that.

The ship was parked just as they left it, mostly untouched. Someone had graffitied something in Ewokese below the viewport of the cockpit, and Stiles whined at the sight of it. Derek didn't let him complain, didn't let him stare at it for too long, before he dragged him into the ship.

Right. They were in a hurry.

Derek sat in the co-pilot seat, already pushing buttons and flipping switches by the time Stiles had closed the entrance and gone to sit down in the pilot seat. They took off and flew out of the planet's atmosphere. Scott and Kira caught up to them shortly after, both radioing in to let them know they were right behind them.

And none of them noticed the bounty hunter following them.

**[ x ]**

It was quiet in the cockpit, as well as the rest of the ship, save for the sound of the running engine humming and buttons being pushed occasionally.

The silence had stretched for a while now, and Stiles had been considering breaking it for almost as long as it had gone on. He kept throwing glances at Derek, Derek who seemed determined to stay focused on co-piloting instead of pacing back and forth restlessly like he had done back on Dantooine. Stiles wanted to break the silence, but he couldn't figure out what to say.

Which was surprising, considering his known history of always talking too much. He could practically hear Scott snickering at him from the ship flying behind them.

“So,” Stiles finally started, looking out the viewport as he shifted in his seat. “You wanna tell me about your family, maybe?”

Derek threw him a glance, but his attention quickly shifted back to his hands on the control panel in front of him. “We don't have to talk.”

“Okay,” Stiles said slowly, turning in his seat to get a better look at Derek. “What if I want to talk though?”

Derek sighed heavily, and it almost sounded annoyed, so Stiles was prepared to call him rude and maybe, probably, yell at him. But then Derek's shoulders slumped and he leaned back on his seat, his head turning to look back at him. “Fine. What do you want to talk about?”

Stiles smiled widely, pleased. “Tell me about your family. I know you've got a little sister, but any other siblings?”

Derek nodded. “Yeah, I've got five of them.”

“Holy kriff, _five_?” Stiles exclaimed, mouth dropping open in a gape. Being an only child, he couldn't wrap his head around having any siblings, let alone five. The closest he had to a brother was Scott, the closest to a sister was Erica.

“Two sisters, three brothers,” Derek responded with another nod, a small smile tugging at his lips. There was a hint of sadness in it though, Stiles noticed. He probably missed them. A lot. “They can be more than a handful and annoying, but... they're my family.”

Stiles let a silence fall between them for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was soft. “Tell me about them.”

So Derek did.

He told him about his sister Laura, who was a few years older than him and pretty much like their mother in personality. He told him how proud of Laura he was, proud of the woman she was becoming. He told him about how Laura was prepared to take the throne after their mother, and how he couldn't be happier for her.

He told him about his sister Cora, who was a couple of years younger than him and who always claimed to hate being royal, scoffing and rolling her eyes whenever she was called princess, but she always showed up to the required events with her head held high.

He told him about his brother Nathan, who was four years younger than him and who was mostly quiet and reserved but deadly during sibling prank wars and hilarious when he cracked a joke. He told him about how Nathan was the biggest flirt when he wanted to be, Derek having been eye witness to the girls he tried to pick up several times. Before either of their parents caught Nathan flirting instead of focusing on his royal duties.

He told him about his brother Justin, who was a whole nine years younger than him and who had so much energy, Derek nearly got tired just looking at him. He told him about the brotherly wrestles him, Justin and Nathan had had when they were younger, and he told him about Justin still trying to wrestle even though he always lost. Every single time.

He told him about his brother Isaac, who was the same age as Cora and who his mother had taken in when she found him sitting on the street after being kicked out of his home by his abusive father. Derek and him were close, practically best friends as well as brothers, he said.

“You got any siblings?” Derek asked when he stopped, turning to look at Stiles.

Stiles let out a huff of a laugh and shook his head. “Nah, the closest I've got to siblings are Scott and Erica.” He shrugged and looked out through the viewport. “It was just me and my dad since I was a kid. Then he got promoted to galactic officer, and suddenly I had no one.”

“I'm sorry,” Derek said in a lowered voice.

Stiles shrugged again. “It's okay. I've still got Scott and the others, so I'm good.” Sending Derek a smile, he was quick to change the subject. “Now tell me something about yourself.”

They talked for what felt like, and maybe was, hours. Well, Stiles did most of the talking, but Derek did contribute to their seemingly endless conversation, and it was nice. It was good, easy. Derek responded to Stiles' sarcasm with a surprisingly sharp and dry wit and rolled his eyes at Stiles' teasing comments.

It took Derek's mind off of where they were going and the whole mess of a situation they were in, which was what Stiles had intended to do with the talking. Because Derek needed the distraction. Just for a little bit.

It lasted until suddenly, the whole ship shook, alarms blared, and their conversation came to an immediate halt.

Stiles shot up in his seat, one hand on the headset on his head and the other grabbing the ship controls. “Scott!” he called into the headset, eyes darting to the flashing radar, that showed an unfamiliar ship behind them. “You guys okay?”

“ _Yeah_ ,” came Scott's reply a moment later, Kira's coming shortly after. “ _Looks like a bounty hunter found us_.”

Stiles cursed low under his breath. “Don't get shot,” he told the two behind them, before he glanced at Derek. “Fly or shoot?”

“Shoot,” was Derek's immediate response, and he was out of the co-pilot seat and running toward the cannon in a second.

The bounty hunter was quick, maneuvering around the three of them and barely getting hit, while still shooting at them. Scott was hit several times, being closest to the lasers coming from the bounty hunter, but the garbage ship stayed intact. Surprisingly well, too.

Or maybe not surprisingly. Boyd knew what he was doing, after all.

Eventually they did manage to shake off the bounty hunter. It took Derek landing a hit on the ship, that send it spiraling out of control and possibly exploding or crash landing on the nearest planet, but they didn't stick around to find out.

They flew off, hurrying away before more bounty hunters could catch them.

**[ x ]**

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Derek muttered quietly as he took the blaster Stiles handed him.

They had landed on the seemingly deserted planet with no more interruptions or bounty hunters shooting at them. The location they had on Kate – which meant the Hales as well – was a good distance away. They hadn't wanted to land closer, hadn't wanted risking being seen.

They could really use the element of surprise, after all.

“We'll be fine,” Stiles said, not sure if he was reassuring Derek or himself. “And we'll get your family out of there, safe and sound. I promise.”

Derek didn't look convinced, only looked more worried, but he nodded and followed Stiles out of the ship and onto planet ground. Scott stood next to Kira, who had a pair of macrobinoculars raised in front of her eyes, scanning ahead of them.

“You find anything yet?” Stiles asked once he came to a stop next to them, Derek staying behind with his hand clasped around the blaster.

“Maybe.” Kira lowered the macrobinoculars and handed them over to Stiles, without taking her eyes off of the horizon. “See that building over there?” She pointed, and Stiles raised the macrobinoculars, zooming into the building in the distance. “I think she might be hiding out in there. By the size of it, I'd guess we're vastly outnumbered.”

“Wouldn't be the first time.” Stiles lowered the macrobinoculars and handed them back to Kira, before turning to Derek. “You can stay behind if you want. We'll get your family back, don't worry.”

Derek lifted his gaze from the ground, the look he gave Stiles almost angry. “That's my family in there. I'm coming with you.”

Stiles nodded a few times. “Okay, just... stay behind us.”

That earned him a glare. “I know how to handle a blaster, Stiles. Just because I'm a prince, doesn't mean I'm useless in a fight.” With a huff, Derek shouldered past him and began walking in the direction of the building, shaking his head.

Stiles shared a look with Scott. “Well, I guess we're going in now.”

The area in front of the building was as deserted as the rest of the planet seemed to be. Not a single form of life for miles, but there were speeders parked in front, so there was definitely someone in there. And they weren't very quiet either.

The moment the door was opened – they had to be three to actually get it open, it was so heavy – loud conversation and distant singing washed over them, as well as heavy objects banging together and glass being broken.

Stiles made a hand movement at the others, signaling for them to follow him, before he quietly moved further into the building. His blaster was in his hands, pointed forward, just like the rest of them had.

The hall was long, the noise echoing between the walls, and their footsteps were quiet and drowned out by it. It looked like they were given the element of surprise – or maybe even be able to slip out of there with the Hales without being seen at all, which sounded ridiculous to Stiles himself but he liked being optimistic... occasionally.

Everything was going fine, until they were about halfway down the hall, when there was a sudden loud noise from behind them as the door slammed shut.

The noise from further in the building stopped instantly, and Stiles silently cursed under his breath.

“There goes the element of surprise,” he muttered quietly, mostly to himself but he saw Derek roll his eyes and bring his finger to the trigger of his blaster.

All four of them stood frozen in place, blasters up and pointed at the end of the hall, and listened to the sound of footsteps slowly approaching them.

The footsteps came closer, and a woman appeared at the end of the hall, a grin on her lips that was clear even in the dimly lit building.

“Well, well, well,” she said with a slight shake of her head, her legs still moving and a few men followed behind her. Three, it looked like. Heavily armored. There could be more on their way or waiting for them. “Had I known the prince would show up by himself, I'd never have bothered putting such a hefty bounty on you.”

“Give me back my family,” Derek practically growled and he took a step forward. Stiles immediately reached a hand out to stop him from going closer to who he assumed was Kate Argent.

Kate chuckled, low and dark. “Not a chance, Derek. Not after all the trouble I went through, hiring the Calaveras to find them and bring them to me, putting a bounty on you.” She shook her head. “And why would you even think I'd let them go after what they did to me?”

“You tried to kill them!” Derek was getting furious, Stiles didn't need to see his face to know that. He was practically shaking with rage under Stiles' hand. At least he hadn't pulled the trigger yet, which Stiles took as a good thing.

No matter how much he wanted to shoot Kate himself.

Kate waved a hand, rolling her eyes. “Minor details. Anyway,” she took a step forward, the men behind her moving with her, “put down your blaster and I'll take you to your family.” She paused, eyeing the others. “And tell your little friends to stand down too.”

Stiles scoffed. “Yeah, that's not happening.”

Kate sighed, quirking a brow at him. “I guess we'll have to do this the hard way then.” Her face hardened, and she made a movement with her hand. “Kill them,” she ordered, and the men behind her moved forward.

Stiles' finger was on the trigger of his blaster, the blaster pointed at the one furthest to his side, but he never got the chance to fire, nor did any of the others. Because the men suddenly flew to the right of the hall, slamming into Kate and bringing her with them as they slammed into the wall.

Stiles stared, wide eyed and gaping, at the now groaning group of people on the ground. He was confused and amazed all at once and so occupied staring, that he didn't even see the person that walked into the hall.

Not until Derek yelled “Mom!” and ran past him, blaster thrown to the ground.

Stiles turned, mouth still hanging open, and saw Derek fly into the arms of a dark haired woman wearing what was definitely a royal gown. His mouth immediately slammed shut, when he noticed her looking over at them, her hand running through Derek's hair comfortingly.

And if he stood frozen in place, well who could blame him? She was terrifying, amazingly so.

That and she was the mother of the man he was crushing on, of course he was terrified of her.

Derek leaned back slightly, and the hand previous in his hair moved to his cheek. “How did you do that?”

“Derek,” Derek's mom – Talia, if Stiles remembered correctly – started, her voice soft. “I'm a queen and the mother of six. Do you really think I'd let anyone hurt you or any of your siblings?” She stroked her son's cheek softly, a smile on her lips. “I didn't want to do anything, until I knew you were safe. But then you came here, and I had no choice.”

Stiles heard the sigh of relief coming from Derek, saw the way his shoulders lost the tension they had held since the moment they met. “Where are the others?” Derek asked, taking half a step back from his mom.

“In there,” Talia said, gesturing back toward the room she had come from. “I told them to stay behind. Go ahead.” Derek wasted no time, before he took off in the direction she had gestured to, leaving the rest of them with his mom.

Stiles' palms were sweaty, his mouth dry, and all because Talia Hale, queen of the house of Hale and wielder of the Force, apparently, was looking right at him. He shot a nervous look at Scott and Kira, both of who were slowly and subtly inching backwards and out of the way. His attention, however, was quickly grabbed by the pile of people to the right, when someone in there groaned.

Talia didn't seem concerned, and the second Kate tried to get up from under one of her men, she was Forced back down, unconscious and buried in her armored men.

“I think I owe you three a thank you,” Talia said as she approached them, a small smile pulling at her lips. It was small, yes, but it was kind, just like the look in her eyes. “For finding and helping my son.”

“You should really just be thanking Stiles and Scott,” Kira spoke up from where she stood behind Scott, a nervous smile on her lips. “They're the ones who found him and decided to help him.”

Stiles made a face. “Uh, actually, I didn't want to,” he admitted, and then quickly added, “At first!” His eyes widened, gaze firmly on Talia who was now smiling amusedly at him. “Totally changed my mind real quick. And not because of a possible reward or whatever, that's not why I-”

“Stiles!” Scott interrupted him, nudging him. “Stop talking.”

“Right.” Nodding sharply once, Stiles mimed zipping his lips shut and throwing away the lock.

Talia nodded and stopped in front of Stiles, and his eyes widened all the more when she raised a hand and put it on his arm. “Regardless,” she said, bowing her head slightly but keeping her eyes trained on him, “thank you.”

“No problem,” Stiles managed to squeak out. He swallowed thickly and only tore his eyes off of Talia to give Scott a glance, when Talia stepped back and turned around.

She was a few steps back toward the room where Derek had disappeared off to, when she stopped and looked over her shoulder at them. “Come with me. I'm sure the rest of Derek's family wants to say thank you too.”

Derek was in the arms of a dark haired woman (Stiles guessed it was Laura, since she looked older than Derek but still young) and had a tall, curly haired guy clinging onto his back, when they stepped into the room. The guy didn't look anything like any of the other Hales, so he guessed that would be Isaac.

Stiles watched Derek reach out and grab another dark haired woman (Cora, probably) and bring her into the embrace, and it was only then that he tore his gaze off of the Hale reunion to the room they were in.

“Oh maker,” he breathed, eyes going wide and mouth dropping open in a gaze.

On the ground lay at least ten men, all heavily armored and all unconscious. Or maybe dead, Stiles couldn't tell. And honestly, he didn't really care either. The room was huge, filled with chairs and benches and tables. And at the far end was a cage, and Stiles' heart dropped to his stomach at the sight of it.

No one was in there though, and the door was bend open by Force.

So yeah, Talia Hale was terrifying. Terrifying and absolutely incredible, and it did not help Stiles feel less nervous in her presence.

At least now he knew where Derek got it from.

**[ x ]**

“Ridiculous,” Stiles muttered to himself, his head shaking slightly.

He was standing outside the ship, his arms crossed, and watching Scott and Kira talk a bit away from him. Both of them were blushing and, although he couldn't hear them, they were very obviously stumbling over their words.

“Completely ridiculous,” he muttered again and sighed heavily. Uncrossing his arms, he cupped his hands around his mouth. “Stop flirting and let's go!” he called out, startling the two and sending them a grin when their blushes darkened.

He dramatically rolled his eyes, when the two of them parted with an awkward hug. Raising a hand in a silent goodbye to Kira – she wasn't going to join them any longer, needing to get back to her normal day – he turned and headed into the full ship, while Scott went into the garbage ship.

Filling all the Hales in the ship had been a hardship, but they had managed. Somehow.

The second he stepped foot into the ship, the entrance closing behind him, Stiles heard the distant sound of talking coming from the bunk area. A small smile tugged at his lips at the sound of it, and he was already following the sound before he even realized it.

The Hale siblings were sitting on Scott's bunk, some on the floor since it wasn't all that big and definitely not meant for six people, but they were all sitting close to each other. Talia and the king – William, he had introduced himself as before getting on the ship – were sitting on Stiles' bunk, both smiling softly at their children and both looking tired. Especially Talia. Stiles didn't blame them.

They were exchanging stories of their adventures, but Stiles didn't stick around for any of it. Instead, he headed for the cockpit and took off, Scott following closely behind.

Stiles allowed himself to take it easy, just for a little bit. Leaning back on the pilot seat, he let out a slow and long breath and his shoulders sagged slightly, his eyes locked onto the space outside the viewport. The always worried voice in his head told him that bounty hunters could still come after them, but he honestly doubted anyone would be foolish enough to do so.

As soon as the Hales were back on Corellia, Talia was going to send her people to capture Kate and her men and put them away for good. And there would be no bounty hunters coming after Derek.

Not on Stiles' watch.

A soft knock behind him brought Stiles out of his thoughts, and he turned to look over his shoulder and saw Derek standing there, a little smile on his lips.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked, already stepping inside the cockpit.

“Be my guest,” Stiles answered, gesturing to the co-pilot seat that Derek quickly sat down in.

Neither of them spoke for a while, both of them just sitting there, enjoying the view ahead of them. Both of them were tired, worn out, that much was obvious.

“I wanted to say thank you,” Derek said in a lowered voice after the silence had lasted for a while longer. Slowly, he turned to look at Stiles. “For helping me find my family.”

Stiles lifted one shoulder in a half shrug, only giving Derek a short glance before he looked back out through the viewport. “I told you, it was the right thing to do.”

“Yeah, but you didn't have to do it, so thank you.”

Stiles hesitated for a moment, then he send Derek a smile. “You're welcome.”

It was Derek's turn to hesitate, and he hesitated for several moments longer than Stiles had, before he spoke again, body turning to him. “I know you don't want any currency as a reward-”

“You're right, I don't,” Stiles quickly interrupted, sending Derek a warning look.

“But,” Derek continued, returning the warning look, “I have another offer.” Curious, Stiles turned to him. “I would like to offer you a place to stay.”

For not the first time during this whole adventure, Stiles found himself speechless and gaping. “A place to stay?”

“Yeah,” Derek said with a nod. “With me. Us. On Corellia. If you want to.” He paused for a moment, and then quickly added, “and Scott and any of the others too, of course.”

Stiles sat there silently, gaping at Derek and being unable to find any words to say. “You want _me_ ,” he finally started, raising a hand to point at himself, his brows shooting upward, “a smuggler, to stay in your palace?”

“You're more than a smuggler, Stiles,” Derek responded with no hesitation, not taking his eyes off of him, the look he gave him soft. “You're also the man that saved my life.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. “I keep telling you, that was Scott.”

“No, that was you.”

He paused again, swallowing thickly and forcing himself to look away. There was no way to hide the blush that was painting his cheeks a pink color, and it was embarrassing. With a sigh, he nodded slowly. “Fine, I'll think about it.”

“Good.” Derek nodded and kept his eyes on Stiles for another moment, before he turned and looked out the viewport.

Stiles expected him to get up and get back to his family, but he didn't. Derek just stayed in the co-pilot seat for the rest of the journey to Corellia.

**[ x ]**

They were granted permission to land on royal ground when they arrived on Corellia, the queen herself letting the guards lining up outside the palace know that she and the rest of the royal family were safe and with their saviors.

But even though the guards retreated, putting their weapons down, Stiles told Scott to stay put and let the Hales walk out first.

Even after the Hales had walked out onto planet ground, the younger children getting carried off to medical for a check up and the rest of them being ushered inside, Stiles stayed behind. He didn't want to get in the way of this.

Although suddenly, he felt awkward and out of place.

This was _royal grounds_. Usually, he'd have to sneak into a place like this and risk being killed on sight. The guards made him nervous, the guards that were all eyeing him warily, hands resting on their blasters, and he wanted to run back into his ship and flee.

Scott had the garbage ship. He could follow.

Stiles didn't run though, because then he saw Derek coming walking toward him, smiling. The smile looked almost nervous, maybe sad, and Stiles suddenly didn't want to leave at all. Ever.

He should probably reconsider that offer, after all.

“I guess this is goodbye?” Derek said, coming to a stop in front of him. No more than half a step between them.

Stiles looked at him – Derek was slightly taller than him, had better posture too, so he only had to look up a little – and shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, I guess-”

The rest of his words were cut off by Derek leaning in and pressing his lips to Stiles'. Stiles made a surprised noise and his eyes widened, and he froze.

Derek _kriffing_ Hale was kissed him, and Stiles just stood there like a dumbass.

Until Derek started to lean back, which was when Stiles reached up to grab the front of his shirt and brought him back in, finally kissing him back with enthusiasm, something that Derek immediately returned. One hand came to rest on Stiles' hip, the other on his cheek, and they tilted their heads to opposite sides to deepen the kiss just slightly.

Kissing Derek was practically magical. Stiles felt a tingling sensation all the way to his toes, and he didn't want it to stop. Didn't want to stop moving his lips against Derek's, didn't want to pull away and not feel the warmth or the firmness of Derek. He didn't want to.

Which, of course, was why they had to stop, thanks to an interruption.

“Derek!”

Derek leaned back with an annoyed sigh, and Stiles bit his bottom lip lightly, eyes locked onto Derek's red lips. He really wanted to lean in and kiss him again, taste the sweet taste of the prince of house Hale. But then Derek turned slightly and looked toward the palace, where Laura stood, a wide grin on her lips.

“Mom wants you inside,” she said, and she winked at the two of them before disappearing back inside.

When Derek turned back, Stiles didn't waste a second before he leaned in and stole another kiss. And Derek let him, kissing him back. Although this time, Stiles only allowed the kiss to last a few seconds, before he reluctantly pulled back.

“I guess you should go in,” he spoke in a lowered voice, eyes going from Derek's lips to his eyes. He didn't want to let go.

Derek slowly nodded and let go of Stiles after another moment. His hand was still on Stiles' cheek though, his thumb running over his cheekbone, and Stiles let himself lean into the touch. “If you ever need anything,” he said, a soft smile pulling at his lips as they locked eyes, “you know where I am.”

He gave him one last, savoring kiss, and then he turned around and headed toward the palace, where Isaac was now standing, a grin similar to Laura's on his lips and a teasing comment spilling out that had Derek shoving at him, a comment that Stiles couldn't hear.

Stiles was still standing there, looking after Derek, when there was an arm slung around his shoulders and he was pulled into the side of his partner.

“So,” Scott said, a wide smile on his lips and eyes on the palace as well. “Are we leaving or what?”

Stiles thought about it for a moment, chewed thoughtfully on his lips. Shrugging, he said, “Maybe we could stay for just a little bit.”

And they did. But not for a little bit. For much, much longer.

 

**Author's Note:**

> can you believe I wrote almost 17k for a prompt lmao
> 
> Come cry about fictional characters with me over on [tumblr](http://hoechlbutt.tumblr.com/).


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